Department for Transport

Department for Transport: EU Law

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government which retained EU laws the Department for Transport is planning to reform or revoke in the event of a passage into law of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Baroness Vere of Norbiton: Individual departments are in the process of assessing their REUL and developing proposals for whether they intend to revoke or reform each piece of legislation or preserve it from the sunset. The Department will be ambitious but mindful of ensuring that businesses and stakeholders are engaged and consulted in the usual way on policy changes, whilst upholding commitments already given at the despatch box.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Drugs

Lord Warner: To ask His Majesty's Government, followingtheir response to the consultation on the extent of the impact on inward investment of higher payments under the statutory scheme to control the costs of branded medicines, what assessment they have made of the sensitivity analysis used to assess that impact; and whether they are proposing changes to that analysis.

Lord Markham: The Department has received materials from pharmaceutical industry Trade Associations and from individual companies about the impact of changes to the voluntary and statutory schemes for branded medicines prices. These include responses to the assessments made by the Department in the draft impact assessment that accompanies our recent consultation on increased rates in the statutory scheme. We will be considering this evidence over the coming weeks and will publish our response alongside the final impact assessment.

Liothyronine: NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board’s (ICB) policy on liothyronine to assess the extent to which it (1) follows national guidance, by asking new patients who have already been reviewed by specialist NHS consultants to be reviewed again if they move into Gloucestershire from another ICB area, and (2) incurs higher costs and additional use of NHS resources.

Lord Markham: The Department has no plans for a review. The current Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board guidance on the prescribing of liothyronine, agreed by the former Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group in April 2022, is under a local review to be completed within the next four months and will consider the position on new patients already on liothyronine moving into Gloucestershire.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Lord Stevens of Birmingham: To ask His Majesty's Government whenbefore 1 April 2023 they will confirm whether NHS mental health funding will increase as a share of overall NHS expenditure in 2023/24, as required by section 3(2) of the Health and Care Act 2022.

Lord Markham: On 23 January 2023 the Government gave a written ministerial statement setting out its expectation for mental health spending by NHS England and integrated care boards (ICBs) in aggregate in the 2023/24 financial year. It stated that in that financial year, the Government expects mental health spending to continue to increase as a proportion of the total recurrent expenditure incurred by NHS England and ICBs in aggregate.The following table shows recurrent National Health Service baseline spend as well as the forecast share thereof for mental health for financial years 2023/23 and 2023/24. This includes, at aggregate ICB level, baseline spend within scope of the Mental Health Investment Standard which covers all spending on mental health from an ICB’s core allocations, and at NHS England level, service development fund spending and specialised commissioning spending on mental health.  2022/232023/24Recurrent NHS baseline (£ billion)142.4153.0Total forecast mental health spend (£ billion)12.713.6Mental health share of recurrent baseline8.90%8.92% It should be noted that the figures in the table will, in part, be based on projections, owing to the statutory requirement to lay the statement before Parliament ahead of the new financial year.

Hospitals: Construction

Lord Stevens of Birmingham: To ask His Majesty's Government which ofthe 40 new NHS hospitals that they propose to build in England by 2030 now have planning permission; and when construction is due to start on each site.

Lord Markham: As of 2 February 2023, within the New Hospital Programme, 21 schemes have received either full or outline planning permission. A document is attached of specific details on schemes which have received planning permission and their construction start time frames. Requirements for planning permission are dependent on when the schemes will progress as part of the New Hospital Programme, and we will continue to support trusts with their planning applications as and when required. This approach to delivery of the new hospitals involves different schemes being grouped into ‘cohorts’, which represent a balance of progress for earlier schemes while enabling implementation standardisation and utilise economies of scale across schemes in later cohorts. This will ensure staff and patients benefit from new facilities that represent improved value for money and realise the full benefits of a programme approach.New Hospital Programme planning permission status (docx, 30.1KB)

Huntington's Disease: Health Services

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to develop specific national guidelines about Huntington’s disease to ensure patients with the disease have a clear, consistent and coordinated care pathway.

Lord Markham: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative evidence-based guidance for the National Health Service on best practice. Topics for guideline development are identified and prioritised through a topic selection process that considers the evidence base, variation in practice and burden of disease. Following the Westminster Hall debate on Huntington’s Disease on 9 November 2022, the Department is preparing an evidence-based paper on a potential guideline on Huntington’s Disease for consideration through the NICE topic selection process.

Pathology

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking in response to the Pathology: GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report, published by the NHS in September 2021; and in particular, the finding that 97 per cent of histopathology departments do not have staff to meet clinical demand.

Lord Markham: It is the responsibility of NHS England and the wider health system to take steps to adopt and implement recommendations from the Pathology: GIRFT Programme National Specialty Report. NHS England committed to consolidating pathology services in England by developing 29 ‘hub and spoke’ networks, with the report identifying several models of these networks that are working well across England.In January 2023, Health Education England advertised histopathology clinical scientist posts to commence in September 2023 as part of the Scientist Training Programme, a national postgraduate training programme located in hospitals and health services throughout England.

Processed Food: Standards

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to remove the Good Choice badge from ultra-processed food products, and (2) to introduce dietary guidelines addressing ultra-processed food and drink.

Lord Markham: We do not currently have plans to change the way the Good Choice badge is used. The Good Choice badge helps people identify healthier options using the NHS Food Scanner application and when shopping in store and online. The application helps families to see what's in their food and drinks and suggests healthier alternatives, where these exist, that can help them cut down on sugar, saturated fat and salt. Together, the application and wider Better Health campaign support families on their journey towards having a healthier diet, as making the step to the healthiest option may be too far for many people in one move.Government dietary guidelines are based on advice from expert groups, including the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). SACN is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health and aims to publish a position statement in the summer of 2023.

Cancer: Processed Food

Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the link between ultra-processed food and cancer; and what steps they are taking to reduce the consumption such foods.

Lord Markham: The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition is currently carrying out a scoping review of the evidence on processed foods and health, including cancer, and aims to publish a position statement in the summer of 2023.Diets high in foods classified as processed are often also high in calories, sugar, saturated fat and salt and low in fibre, which is associated with an increased risk of chronic illnesses including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers. The Government encourages everyone to have a healthy balanced diet in line with the United Kingdom’s healthy eating model, the Eatwell Guide, which shows that foods high in fat, salt or sugar should be eaten less often or in small amounts.

Genomics

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have plans (1) to expand the National Genomic Test Directory to include non-genomic molecular biomarker tests, or (2) to create a universal test directory to cover genomic and molecular biomarker tests, to improve targeted cancer treatments.

Lord Markham: Genomic testing in the National Health Service in England is provided through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, delivered by a national genomic testing network of seven NHS Genomic Laboratory Hubs as directed by the National Genomic Test Directory.In October 2022, NHS England published Accelerating genomic medicine in the NHS, which includes a commitment that the NHS will continue to review the evidence to inform and update the National Genomic Test Directory to reflect the latest scientific and technological developments. A copy of the document is attached.In the future, it is possible that other functional genomic tests that are important for stratifying treatments may be included, based on any evidence presented.Accelerating genomic medicine in the NHS (pdf, 1934.0KB)

NHS: Drugs

Lord Warner: To ask His Majesty's Government whatassessment they have made ofthe link between the use of innovative medicines by the NHS and (1) the placement of clinical trials in the UK, (2) patient outcomes, and (3) employment levels in the life sciences industry in the UK.

Lord Markham: Whilst we have made no specific assessment, the Government’s Life Sciences Vision sets out our ambition to stimulate the United Kingdom’s life sciences sector. The vision commits the Government to supporting the National Health Service to test, purchase and spread innovative technologies more effectively, so that cutting-edge science and innovations can be embedded widely across the NHS as early as possible, and rapidly adopted in the rest of the world. We are working with industry and system partners to make the NHS the country’s highest driver of innovation.

Healthy.io

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government whether theywill publish (1) the assessment of the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative of technologies from the company Healthy.io, (2) any contracts or agreements between Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and that company, and (3) an estimate of how many Oxfordshire patients had data about them provided to that company.

Lord Markham: The NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) made a Phase 4 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Award to Healthy.io under Round 1 of the AI Award programme. As part of the award process, the AAC commissioned an independent service evaluation and a randomised controlled trial, supported by Leicester Clinical Trials Unit. The results of these will be published as part of the Award process by September 2024. All 20 Primary Care Networks in Oxfordshire are taking part in the Healthy.io AI Award programme pilot and 2760 patients have been asked if they would like to take part. The Department does not hold a copy of the contract between Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board and Healthy.io. Our understanding is that this contract was for a pilot project and has not been continued. During the pilot, 38 general practices in Oxfordshire signed up to Healthy.io and submitted 6473 patients, of which 6053 were eligible.

Liothyronine

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask His Majesty's Government what cost assessment they have undertaken of the daily dose rationing of liothyronine regardless of clinical need by the (1) NHS Devon, (2) NHS Buckinghamshire, and (3) NHS Hertfordshire, Integrated Care Boards; and what comparative assessment they have made of (a) the NHS England national guidance, and (b) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence British National Formulary guidance on liothyronine, given the risk of harm to patients and that smaller doses lead to higher costs.

Lord Markham: No assessments have been made.

Brain: Injuries

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the forthcoming National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance on head injury, what steps they intend to take to tackle the difficulties many patients are facing in getting the correct diagnosis for adult Growth Hormone Deficiency following a head injury.

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to train GPs to make appropriate referrals for Growth Hormone Deficiency (GHD), and (2) to encourage endocrinologists to offer appropriate GHD treatments, including glucose stimulation and insulin stress tests, given estimates that only 10,000 out of around 300,000 patients are getting reliable treatments.

Baroness Merron: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to facilitate more and earlier diagnosis of Growth Hormone Deficiency.

Lord Markham: The 2021 UK Rare Diseases Framework sets out four priorities to improve the lives of people living with rare diseases, such as Growth Hormone Deficiency. To implement the Framework, we published England’s first Rare Diseases Action Plan in February 2022. The Plan includes actions to improve the timely diagnosis of rare conditions and raise awareness of rare conditions among healthcare professionals. Progress against these actions will be reported in England’s second Rare Diseases Action Plan, due to be published in early 2023.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently updating its guideline on the assessment and early management of head injury. The final guideline is expected to be published in March 2023.The curricula for postgraduate specialty training such as endocrinology are set by the relevant Royal College and has to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council and be formally approved by them.

Department for Education

Schools: Transgender People

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government who will be consulted on the official transgender guidance for schools.

Baroness Hoey: To ask His Majesty's Government what is the closing date for submissions to their official transgender guidance for schools.

Baroness Barran: The department understands that this is a complex and sensitive subject for schools to navigate. This is why we are developing guidance to support schools both in relation to transgender pupils and those who are questioning their gender. The guidance will be clear that, apart from in exceptional circumstances, schools should involve parents in any decision about their child.To ensure the guidance is right, it is important that the department is able to consider a wide range of views. The department has committed to holding a full public consultation on the draft guidance prior to publication, to which anyone can respond.The consultation will be live in due course, allowing those who wish to respond to it time to do so.

Schools: Freedom of Information

Lord Jackson of Peterborough: To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they provide to schools and Local Education Authorities on their application of the Freedom of Information Act 2000; and in particular with regard to any parent's request to access information on Relationships and Sex Education curricula delivered by external contractors and providers.

Baroness Barran: Schools are responsible for what is taught in Relationship, Health and Sex Education (RHSE) lessons, including anything taught by external providers. Schools should agree reasonable requests from parents to view curriculum materials. We would expect schools to avoid entering into any agreement that seeks to prevent them from ensuring parents can be made properly aware of the materials that are being used to teach their children. The department will soon be writing to schools to clarify this.Regarding Government providing advice on the application of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000, local authorities and schools are public authorities in their own right for the purposes of the FOIA. This means that they must make their own decisions on how they should respond to specific FOIs they receive, including any from parents requesting access to information on Relationships and Sex Education curricula delivered by external contractors and providers. Accordingly, the department does not advise schools or local authorities on the responses that they should provide to such requests.The Information Commissioner’s Office makes guidance on the application of the FOIA available to all public authorities. This guidance is available at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-freedom-of-information/.

Treasury

Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) ONS data showing an increase in the relative affordability of alcohol compared to fruit juice, and (2) the implications of this trend for their planned duty freeze on alcoholic drinks.

Baroness Penn: The Government will continue to assess the impact of its decisions on alcohol duties, including the duty freeze until 1 August 2023, and aims to balance its public health objectives with support for businesses. The alcohol duty reforms will tax all alcohol according to strength for the first time from 1 August 2023. This will make low cost high ABV drinks, such as white ciders, more expensive and reduce the affordability of drinks more associated with alcohol harm.

Customs

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make Authorised Economic Operator status mandatory for customs declarants.

Baroness Penn: There are no plans to make Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) status mandatory for customs declarants. Unlike some countries, the UK does not make AEO status a mandatory requirement for businesses that want to access other customs authorisations and simplifications. These can be applied for through separate authorisations processes. This means UK businesses can tailor their authorisations and simplifications to their business needs.

Red Diesel: Fraud

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the level of fraudulent use of red diesel.

Baroness Penn: HM Revenue and Customs’ latest published estimate of the fraudulent use of red diesel in Great Britain is 1% of the market share, and for Northern Ireland, 4% of the market share. This results in a total UK duty and VAT loss of an estimated £150 million for the tax year 2020-21.

Tuna: Import Duties

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff: To ask His Majesty's Government how much income the Exchequer received in (1) 2021, and (2) 2022, from import duty of food from the Maldives’ sustainable tuna line fishing industry.

Baroness Penn: HMRC does not hold the information requested. Traders pay customs duty and import VAT based on calculated liabilities for goods, either immediately or on a monthly basis via duty deferment accounts. Also, VAT-registered businesses can account for import VAT on their VAT Return by using postponed VAT accounting. The subsequent revenue collected is not recorded on a product or sector basis and thus no breakdown by product or country of origin is held. This is because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level within their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.

Stocks and Shares

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the money raised in Initial Public Offerings on the London Stock Exchange over the last five years.

Baroness Penn: Following a global slowdown in IPO activity during the pandemic period, 2021 saw a spike in activity, with London maintaining its status as the dominant European IPO market. Over 120 companies chose to list in the UK in 2021, the highest number since 2014 and more than in 2019 and 2020 combined. These listings raised a total of £17 billion, the most raised in 15 years and comfortably more than any other European jurisdiction. 2022 saw limited IPO activity globally due to market turbulence. The government is taking action to ensure that London remains Europe’s dominant IPO market. Government and the regulators are working together to deliver the outcomes of Lord Hill’s Listing Review, the Wholesale Markets Review and Mark Austin’s Secondary Capital Raising Review. The Financial Services and Markets Bill will be key in delivering these reforms as it seizes the opportunities of EU Exit to bolster the competitiveness of the UK as a global financial centre.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Lord Truscott: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they aretaking to reduce waiting times for taxpayers seeking to access HMRC’s telephone helpline.

Baroness Penn: We encourage these taxpayers who can contact us digitally to do, so that our staff can focus their support on those who need one-to-one support on the telephone. The quickest and easiest way for customers to manage their tax affairs and get answers to queries is online through the HMRC mobile app or the web-based Personal Tax Account here https://www.gov.uk/personal-tax-account, which enables taxpayers to view all their tax affairs in one place and complete everyday tasks. We continue to invest in high quality digital services which will allow HMRC to offer a more efficient service. When more customers use our online services, this frees up our advisers to offer a better service for those customers who have more complex queries or are unable to go online. January is the busiest time of the year on HMRC’s telephony lines due to the Self-Assessment peak. To ensure that Self-Assessment customers can get the help they need during this period, HMRC has redeployed 850 colleagues from other areas to enable us to focus on the highest priority Self-Assessment calls.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Lord Porter of Spalding: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL).

Baroness Penn: The Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) has been successful at encouraging the reformulation of soft drinks, with over half of all drinks that would have otherwise been in scope reducing their sugar content. The Government will continue to monitor the impact of the SDIL in line with public health objectives, such as tackling obesity.As with all taxes, the Government keeps SDIL under constant review and welcomes representations from stakeholders to inform policy development.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Afghanistan: Hazara

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the targeting of Hazara Muslims in Afghanistan and the risk of possible genocide.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to protect religious and ethnic minorities. We are working with international partners to ensure credible monitoring to hold to account those responsible for human rights abuses. On 7 October 2022, we co-sponsored a Human Rights Council resolution to extend the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate. His latest report to the Human Rights Council included an assessment of the situation for Hazara communities. FCDO ministers and officials regularly engage with Hazara representatives who provide vital insight on the situation. Most recently, on 8 December 2022, I [Lord Ahmad] met with representatives from Hazara community groups.

Fariba Kamalabadi and Mahvash Sabet

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the re-imprisonment of Fariba Kamalbadi and Mahvash Sabet in Iran; and when they last raised global violations of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the UN Human Rights Council.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK unequivocally condemns the persecution of religious minorities in Iran. Members of the Baha'i community are being detained at ever increasing rates by the Iranian authorities. On 20 December 2022, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Fiona Bruce, expressed the UK's condemnation of the sentencing of Baha'i leaders Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi to a further decade of imprisonment. The UK also raised opposition to the intensified persecution of the Baha'i at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) Third Committee on 26 October 2022. The UK is a longstanding co-sponsor of the resolution on Freedom of Religion or Belief at the Human Rights Council, and regularly raises freedom of religion and belief in interactive dialogues and debates.

Ukraine: Nuclear Power Stations

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with (1) other countries and (2) the IAEA, about the risks to civil nuclear facilities inUkraine; and what contingency plans they have discussed in the event of a nuclear emergency at one of those plants.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We have regular discussions with Ukraine and G7 partners on nuclear issues and support the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) work to ensure the safety and security of nuclear facilities. As part of this dialogue, the Foreign Secretary and Minister for Europe spoke to the IAEA Director-General on 15 November and 2 December respectively, and Director General Grossi spoke with senior officials at the G7 meeting on 24 January. The UK also announced an additional £4 million in funding to the IAEA for nuclear safety and security equipment, alongside our ongoing IAEA funding of £15 million per year.

Diplomatic Service

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government in which countries the UK does not have a permanent diplomatic presence.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) publishes information about the UK's diplomatic representation overseas on GOV.UK. (www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-foreign-office-posts). This lists FCDO embassies, high commissions and consulates and is regularly updated. Countries not included in this list do not have a permanent UK diplomatic presence. The FCDO does not publish a separate list of countries without permanent UK diplomatic representation: this information is available by comparing the list of posts abroad against the list of country names recognised by the UK, also published on GOV.UK. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1113038/FCDO-Geographical-Names-Index-Oct2022.csv/preview).

Iraq: Yazidis

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what recent representations they have made to the government of Iraq regarding the reports of 2,763 missing Yazidi women and children in that country.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK advocated strongly for the passing of the Yazidi Survivors' Law in March 2021 and the establishment of the Directorate of Yazidi Affairs. The Directorate is responsible for searching for survivors and supporting judicial and investigative bodies on holding perpetrators to account. In parallel, we have also provided £2 million to the UN Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Daesh (UNITAD). The UK joined likeminded partners in committing to support Yazidis displaced or abducted by Daesh in a Joint alliance statement issued in October 2021. We continue to press the Government of Iraq on the importance of these issues, including searching for those missing Yazidi women and children abducted by Daesh.

Myanmar: Natural Gas

Baroness Nye: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made ofthe British insurance companies providing services to the gas extraction and export industry in Myanmar.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We recognise that Myanmar's gas extraction sector is a vital source of revenue for the military. We are unaware of any British companies providing services to this sector. Since the military coup in Myanmar, the UK has led international efforts to reduce the military's access to revenue, arms and equipment. To prevent the military from profiting off natural resource extraction, we have imposed extensive sanctions on the regime and its associated businesses. We have also strengthened our Overseas Business Risk Guidance, to warn companies of the risks associated with Myanmar's extractive sector. We will continue to do all we can to cut the military's access to revenue, through both sanctions and non-sanctions measures.

Armed Conflict: Offences against Children

Baroness Helic: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support the collection of data disaggregated by (1) age, and (2) gender, on crimes affecting children in conflict.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The UK is committed to protecting all children affected by conflict. We recognise the differing impacts of conflict on children depending on age and gender and therefore the importance of collecting age and gender disaggregated data to help inform and target our work with international partners to reduce the impact of conflict on children. The UK works closely with UNICEF to ensure the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) is able to provide the safe and accurate collection of timely, objective and reliable data, including gender and, where possible, age disaggregated data, on the six grave violations perpetrated against children in conflict.Between 2021-2022 we provided £250,000 in support of the MRM and continue to champion the MRM through the UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict.

Interpreters and Translation Services

Baroness Coussins: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the draft UN Security Council Resolution on the protection of interpreters and translators working in high-risk settings, circulated by the Swiss Mission in December 2022, and (2) the Open Letter from the NGO Red T to Volker Turk of the UN HCHR asking that his office establish a translator/interpreter incident database; and what steps they are planning to take in response as a member of the UN Group of Friends for the Protection of Civilians.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The United Kingdom is committed to international action to protect civilians in conflict; we consistently use the influence provided by our permanent seat on the UN Security Council to urge all states to improve the protection of civilians in conflict situations. We recognise the vital role that interpreters and translators play in conflicts and the particular threats faced by this group. We believe the most effective way to protect them is through implementation of International Humanitarian Law and previous Security Council resolutions 1265 (1999), 1296 (2000), 1674 (2006), and 1894 (2009). We have taken note of the contents of the open letters from Red T but do not at present believe that an additional resolution focusing on translators and interpreters would make a significant difference to their protection.

China: Religious Freedom

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they plan to make to the UN Human Rights Council regarding reported violations of religious freedoms in China.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The environment for freedom of religion or belief across China is restrictive, including the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief.We work within the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance and other international organisations and networks to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened. We have also consistently raised China's severe restrictions on religious practice through the UN, including in a joint statement alongside 49 other countries on 31 October.We will continue to urge China to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief, including through the UN Human Rights Council.

Colombia: Rivers

Lord Alderdice: To ask His Majesty's Government what recent steps they have taken to provide assistance to the government of Colombia to implement the Constitutional Court of Colombia's 2016 T622 ruling relating to the Atrato River Case.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Through our Conflict Stability and Security Fund (CSSF), the UK continues to support the implementation of the Peace Agreement in Colombia and improve stability and security. This includes assistance to help deliver Chocó's rural development plan (PDET), which was designed in accord with the local population and specifically mentions the T-6222 ruling judgement. Additionally, UK Research and Innovation, via the UK Government ODA Newton-Caldas Fund, has funded a project in which an international consortium of researchers supported the communities along the Atrato River through improving scientific data on the state of the river. This included building capacity amongst riverine communities enabling them to carry out environmental monitoring activity, and making data accessible to communities, advocacy groups, and policy makers.

Colombia: Environment Protection and Indigenous Peoples

Lord Alderdice: To ask His Majesty's Government how they will monitor the implementation of the commitments made in the Joint Declaration of Intent, signed at COP25, to support the government of Colombia in (1) conserving fragile ecosystems, and (2) safeguarding the rights and safety of indigenous peoples.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: The Joint Declaration of Intent (JDI) includes a series of mechanisms to monitor implementation and to keep track of policy milestones that the Colombian Government has agreed to. These mechanisms include a yearly report prepared by the Colombian Government and approved following public consultations. The UK will closely monitor this report, which includes information on forest change, policy delivery and coordination progress, lessons learned and future opportunities. Through the JDI and our bilateral 'Partnership for Sustainable Growth', the UK will continue to support the conservation of fragile ecosystems and help safeguard the rights and safety of indigenous peoples in Colombia.

Colombia: Forests

Lord Alderdice: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Joint Declaration of Intent between Colombia, Germany, Norway and the UK, signed at COP25 and reaffirmed at COP27, what support they will provide to Colombia to (1) develop their national development plan, and (2) fulfil the COP27 commitments to tackle deforestation and address biodiversity loss.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Through our bilateral 'Partnership for Sustainable Growth' with Colombia, the UK supports a large portfolio of projects to tackle deforestation and protect Colombia's biodiversity. This includes the flagship £64 million programme "Sustainable Forest Territories" (TEFOS) which seeks to protect Colombia's forests in high-deforestation, conflict-affected areas. Under the Joint Declaration of Intent, the UK is also working with Germany and Norway to promote forest conservation, sustainable livelihoods, peacebuilding and Supporting Indigenous People and Local Communities (IPLC) governance. These align with our countries' COP27 commitments, under the Forests and Climate Leaders' Partnership (FCLP), to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.

Peru: Politics and Government

The Marquess of Lothian: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the current political and security situation in Peru, given recent anti-government protests.

Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: Minister Rutley discussed the situation in Peru during a recent meeting with the Peruvian ambassador. Our Ambassador in Lima and his team also hold regular discussions with the Peruvian Government and have discussed the violence seen in Peru, including the deaths of protesters, following the change of government in December. The UK supports the Peruvian Government and constitutional order and welcomes dialogue to calm the ongoing protests. It is important that the Peruvian Government does all it can to protect lives and that there is greater transparency of how the Government is ensuring the protection of rights.

Ministry of Defence

Challenger Tanks

Lord Lee of Trafford: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Goldie on 25 January (HL4866), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, whetherthe UK has the necessary (1) facilities, and (2) workforce, to increase the number of Challenger tank if required; and where they would be built.

Baroness Goldie: Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land are the prime contractor for the currently agreed Challenger 3 upgrades and assembly will be completed in their Telford site.In line with the Defence Secretary's statement on 16 January 2023, the number of Challenger 3 remains under review to ensure the Army's Main Battle Tank fleet is sufficient to meet Defence's needs.

Department for Work and Pensions

Pesticides: Safety

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask His Majesty's Government when they will report on the outcomeof the Government Oversight Group review of the stewardship regime for professional use of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides in the UK after five years of operation; and what steps they are taking to end the use of previously banned substances still being deployed in the countryside to poison wildlife.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The detailed work of the review of the stewardship scheme for anticoagulant rodenticides is ongoing. The Government Oversight Group for Rodenticides, chaired by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the industry’s representative body, the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use met in December 2022 to discuss the existing stewardship regime and agree areas of focus for its review. Discussions also included establishing a timetable for the work required to take the review forward during 2023. With respect to the issue of wildlife poisoning, there are robust, multi-agency arrangements in place for enforcing the illegal supply and use of chemicals; with the illegal poisoning of protected species investigated by a dedicated Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme.

Cost of Living

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they aretaking to support households facing hardship and debt as a result of the increased cost of living.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living this winter and is taking action to help. The Government's Energy Price Guarantee will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap - reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme, paid over six months starting in October 2022. For those who require additional support the current Household Support Fund, running in England from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023, is providing £421 million of funding. The devolved administrations have been allocated £79 million through the Barnett formula.  The Household Support Fund will continue until March 2024. This year long extension allows Local Authorities in England to continue to provide discretionary support to those most in need with the significantly rising cost of living. The Devolved Administrations will receive consequential funding as usual to spend at their discretion. In 2023/24, subject to parliamentary approval, we are uprating all benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%, in order to increase the number of households who can benefit from these uprating decisions the benefit cap levels are also increasing by the same amount. In addition, for 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments of around £300 each across the 2023/24 financial year. A separate £300 payment will be made to pensioner households on top of their Winter Fuel Payments and individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will receive a £150 payment. Further to this, the amended Energy Price Guarantee will save the average UK household £500 in 2023/24. To further support those who are in work, from 1 April 2023 subject to parliamentary approval, the National Living Wage (NLW) will increase by 9.7% to £10.42 an hour for workers aged 23 and over - the largest ever cash increase for the NLW. We are committed to ensuring staff who engage with customers identify and signpost customers to the financial support they require. We continue to work closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), which is an Arm’s Length Body of DWP, to identify and maximise all the touchpoints where it may be appropriate to signpost our customers to the expert financial help they need. We have also been working with MaPS to upskill some of our frontline staff to give them the confidence and skills to have those difficult and sensitive conversations with customers regarding their finances before signposting them to the most suitable organisation. This may be for help with budgeting and money management, or with debt. Customers contacting the Department’s Debt Management Team are routinely referred to this service. The Department has a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage repayment of Government debt to DWP. Our priority is to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans that do not cause undue financial hardship. For overpayment deductions specifically, where a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of deduction for an overpayment recovery they are encouraged to contact the Department’s Debt Management Team to discuss a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment or, if necessary, a temporary cessation of the deduction may be considered. When a customer is notified of an overpayment, they are advised to contact us if they would struggle to make their repayment. Customers are also notified of deductions, giving them a further opportunity to contact us to negotiate a more affordable rate. There is no minimum amount that a customer has to pay, and we have recently extended the time period for any reduced payment to remain in place. We also remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Breathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days to enable them to receive debt advice and enter into an appropriate debt solution.

Department for Work and Pensions: EU Law

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government which retained EU laws the Department for Work and Pensions is planning to reform or revoke in the event of a passage into law of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Viscount Younger of Leckie: DWP retained EU law that has already been identified is listed on the publicly accessible dashboard. The department will continue to work to identify where DWP ownedEU-derived legislation remains on the statute book and the dashboard will be updated throughout 2023.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Sustainable Farming Incentive

Lord Lucas: To ask His Majesty's Government whether all farmers piloting the Sustainable Farming Incentive are members of their local farmer cluster; and if not, what plans they have to require such farmers to join.

Lord Benyon: The SFI pilot is testing a version of SFI with 840 farmers across the country for three years and commenced in November 2021. Those taking part in the pilot represent a broad range of farmers that include owner occupiers and tenants; large and smaller scale businesses; and arable, livestock and mixed farming enterprises. The pilot is testing the end to end operational side of the scheme as well as the delivery and effect of the environmental Actions. Learning from the SFI pilot is feeding back into our policy teams in Defra to help develop and iterate the full schemes. Whilst some farmers within the SFI pilot may already be part of their local farm cluster group, land in the SFI pilot is not subject to any existing additional agri-environment scheme. This is so we can ensure the learning we gain from our farmers taking part in the pilot is directly related to the elements of the scheme we are testing and learning from. As we evolve our existing Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme, this will pay for more locally-targeted actions relating to specific habitats and features that can be done alongside food production. Through CS Plus we plan to increase the impact of the scheme by adding in more ways to incentivise and reward those who work together across multiple holdings to deliver specific environmental outcomes relevant to the locality, and join up connecting habitats across local areas. Both SFI and CS will be available to all eligible farmers that wish to take part and as we develop these schemes, we will continue to refine the actions with farmers and land managers to make sure they work on the ground, are good value for money, and deliver the intended outcomes for sustainable domestic food production and the environment.

Home Office

Dual Nationality: Iran

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government how many people have dual British-Iranian citizenship; and of those, what estimate they have made of the number currently residing in Iran.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: Under UK law, there is no restriction on holding other passports so only the ‘relevant’ nationality to a case is generally captured in a analysable form.We cannot provide a figure on how many Iranians have rights or claims to dual British citizenship. Eligibility for British citizenship depends on an individual’s ability to meet all of the statutory requirements, and eligibility for dual nationality would also be subject to the rules of the other country involved.In addition to foreign nationals who qualify for registration or naturalisation as a British citizen, there are a number of people who acquire dual nationality by virtue of their birth in the UK to foreign parents, or their birth overseas to British parents.

Visas: British Nationals Abroad

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government which countries the UK has visa free travel arrangements with for British citizens.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: FCDO, who have responsibility for this information, have said that the information this question is requesting can be found in public domain https://visaguide.world/visa-free-countries/uk-passport/We have included the list for ease:  AlbaniaAmerican SamoaAndorraAnguillaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaArubaAustraliaAustriaBahamasBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBermudaBoliviaCaribbean NetherlandsBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBritish Virgin IslandsBruneiBulgariaCanadaCabo VerdeCayman IslandsChileColombiaCook IslandsCosta RicaCroatiaCuraçaoCyprusCzechiaDenmarkDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEl SalvadorEstoniaFalkland IslandsFaroe IslandsFijiFinlandFranceFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench West IndiesGeorgiaGermanyGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGrenadaGuamGuatemalaGuyanaHaitiHondurasHong KongHungaryIcelandIndonesiaIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaKazakhstanKiribatiKosovoKyrgyzstanLatviaLesothoLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacauMalaysiaMaltaMarshall IslandsMauritiusMayotteMexicoMicronesiaMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMontserratMoroccoNamibiaNetherlandsNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaraguaNiueNorth MacedoniaNorthern Mariana IslandsNorwayOmanPakistanPalestinePanamaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalPuerto RicoQatarRéunionRomaniaSan MarinoSão Tomé and PríncipeSenegalSerbiaSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSri LankaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSwedenSwitzerlandTaiwanThailandGambiaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurks and Caicos IslandsTürkiyeUnited States Virgin IslandsUkraineUnited StatesUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamZambiaEswatin

Home Office: EU Law

Lord Weir of Ballyholme: To ask His Majesty's Government which retained EU laws the Home Office is planning to reform or revoke in the event of a passage into law of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The Home Office are in the process of assessing their REUL and developing proposals for whether they intend to revoke or reform each piece of legislation or preserve it from the sunset.We will be ambitious but mindful of ensuring that businesses and stakeholders are engaged and consulted in the usual way on policy changes, whilst upholding commitments already given at the despatch box.It is right that, 7 years after the British public voted to leave the EU, and 3 years since we formally left, that the programme to review, revoke and reform retained EU law is underway, and we take advantage of our new freedoms.

Asylum: Children

Lord Scriven: To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence of organised criminal gangs targeting unaccompanied child refugees staying in hotels, including those children that have reportedly gone missing from hotels housing asylum seekers.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The safety and wellbeing of those in our care is our primary concern.We have no power to detain unaccompanied asylum seeking children in hotels and we know some do go missing. Many of those who have gone missing are subsequently traced and located. Children’s movements in and out of hotels are monitored and recorded and they are accompanied by support workers when attending organised activities and social excursions off-site, or where specific vulnerabilities are identified. All sites have security staff to ensure the safety and welfare of UASC. There are many reasons why children go missing from care. This is also true of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. It would be wrong to make generalisations regarding the reasons for this.

Asylum: Finance

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask His Majesty's Government what was the value of support given to asylum seekers each year through (1) the ASPEN card, and (2) its predecessors, over the past 20 years.

Lord Murray of Blidworth: The value of financial support provided to asylum seekers is tabled as an annual amendment to the Asylum support Regulation 2000. Providing the complete information requested would exceed the word limit for responses to written parliamentary questions. However, the value of the support has been set in the Statutory Instruments which are publicly available below; links to them are provided, where available.The Asylum Support Regulations 2003The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2004The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2004 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2005The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2005 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2006The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2007The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2008The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2009The Asylum Support (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2009 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2010The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2011The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2012Not available.The Asylum Support Regulations 2013Not available.The Asylum Support Regulations 2014Not available.The Asylum Support Regulations 2015The Asylum Support (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2015 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2016Not available.The Asylum Support Regulations 2017Not availableThe Asylum Support Regulations 2018The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2018 (legislation.gov.uk)The Asylum Support Regulations 2019Not available.The Asylum Support Regulations 2020Not available.The Asylum Support Regulations 2021The Asylum Support (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (legislation.gov.uk)

Police: Recruitment

Lord German: To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Sharpe of Epsom on 25 January (HL4660), what are the names of the 10 police forces who do not conduct a post Online Assessment Process face-to-face interview.

Lord Sharpe of Epsom: As stated in the response to the question tabled on 12 January, there are currently 10 forces that do not hold a post Online Assessment Process interview as part of the police recruitment process. According to information provided by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing these 10 forces are Avon & Somerset, City of London, Dorset, Hampshire, Humberside, Norfolk, Suffolk, Warwickshire West Midlands and Wiltshire. These forces engage with all candidates face-to-face as part of the recruitment process: six forces (Avon & Somerset, City of London, Dorset, Humberside, Norfolk and Suffolk) routinely require applicants to attend a face-to-face meeting through familiarisation events or similar; the remaining four have face-to-face engagement at other stages in the recruitment process, such as during the medical and fitness assessments. Following engagement with the Home Office, the College of Policing will write to Chief Constables in early February with updated guidance on post assessment interviews that will strengthen the requirement for forces to use the College of Policing’s standard post Online Assessment Process interview process, as part of the police recruitment process.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Telecommunications: Rural Areas

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how manypeople in rural areas do not have access to (1) landline phones, (2) mobile telephone coverage, (3) wireless coverage, (4) broadband, and (5) satellite internet.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Ofcom collects coverage as part of its reporting requirements, most recently in its Connected Nations Report, with data for the period to September 2022.Ofcom reports that 96% of rural premises have indoor 4G coverage from at least one operator, rising to 99% for outdoor coverage. This equates to c.195,000 rural premises not having 4G indoor coverage, with c.26,500 not having outdoor 4G coverage.With 2G and 3G coverage added in, 99% of rural premises have indoor voice coverage from at least one operator, rising to approximately 100% for outdoor coverage. This equates to 35,000 rural premises not having indoor voice coverage, with c. 6,900 not having outdoor voice coverage.The Shared Rural Network programme will see the UK’s geographic (landmass) 4G coverage extend to 95% by the end of the programme, reducing rural ‘not spots’, and levelling up coverage between rural and urban areas.Ofcom reports that 95% of UK premises have access to an Mobile Network Operator (MNO) Fixed Wireless Access Service. 7% of premises have access to a network operated by a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), which operate wireless networks independently of an MNO and coverage may therefore overlap. The data is not broken down by rurality.In relation to broadband coverage, Ofcom reports that there are approximately 29,000 (~1%) rural premises in the UK unable to access a decent broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload through a fixed or WISP broadband connection. We expect this number to fall as broadband rollout continues through commercial investment and publicly-funded deployment such as Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network. Any premises unable to access a decent broadband connection is eligible to request one under the broadband Universal Service Obligation.Commercial services for both Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are available across the UK. These services may not be suitable for premises in all locations, however.As part of its Telecommunications Market Data Update, Ofcom reported that there were approximately 30.5 million fixed-line telephone services (including PSTN, ISDN and managed VoIP connections) in the UK. Ofcom does not break these down by rurality. Any premises which do not have access to a landline can request one under the telephony Universal Service Obligation.

Department for Business and Trade

Business: Investment

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment theyhave made of the impact of Brexit on investment in businesses.

Lord Callanan: The Department has made no such assessment.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Energy: Meters

Baroness Altmann: To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to ensure that vulnerable customers fitted with a smart meter at home (1) understand how to use the meter, (2) have necessary training on how it operates, and (3) have the smart meter sited in a place that is accessible safely, should they need to press any buttons on it.

Lord Callanan: Energy suppliers are obligated by the conditions of their licence to ensure vulnerable consumers know how to use, and benefit from, their smart metering system. Any information provided must be available in a variety of formats, tailored for groups with specific needs. The energy regulator Ofgem is responsible for ensuring energy suppliers comply with their regulatory obligations. An In-Home Display can be located in a position of the customer’s choosing within the home, in range of the meter’s communications hub, from which it receives information on energy consumption and costs.

Energy: Prices

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the governments of other European countries regarding the comparative cost of energy to consumers in the UK and those countries; and what lessonsthey have learned from those discussions.

Lord Callanan: The UK Government has discussions with governments of other countries on a range of issues. The Department publishes comparisons between the UK and European countries from Eurostat price data. Differences in prices across countries are influenced by many factors, including differences in fuel mixes, market structures, regulation, and taxation strategies within each country. This means that while all countries have been affected by the rise in global energy prices, the impact on households and businesses will vary between countries. The Government has announced a package of measures to support people and businesses with their energy bills and tackle the root causes of the issues in the UK energy market through increased supply.

Energy: Meters

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of energycustomers with prepayment meters who have been unable to pay their energy bills in the last three calendar years.

Lord Callanan: Ofgem only holds data for smart meters in prepayment mode that have disconnected, it is not possible to collect this data for traditional prepayment meters. One of the benefits of smart prepayment over traditional prepayment meters is the ability for energy suppliers to know when customers have gone off supply, and so offer timely support. Ofgem hold data for Q1 – Q3 2022. The number of electricity smart meters in GB that disconnected at least once across this period are provided in the table below. Not all disconnections will be due to affordability issues. Q1 2022510,574Q2 2022660,135Q3 2022660,133

Business: Energy

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide support to businesses that are off grid energy users.

Lord Callanan: On 6 February, my Rt. Hon. Friend the then Minister for Climate and Energy announced further information on the Non-Domestic Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme (ND-AFP). Electricity suppliers can now start making payments to eligible off-grid energy users and they will deliver this support up to 10 March. Most customers are expected to receive a credit of £150 on bills later this month and will not need to apply.A top-up payment in addition to the £150 will be available for large users of heating oil (kerosene) in GB and NI to take account of their higher usage. These top-up payments will require an application to a delivery body and will be banded based on level of usage. The Government will set out further details in the near future.

Northern Ireland Office

Victims' Payment Scheme

Lord Empey: To ask His Majesty's Government how many claims have been made under theTroubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme since it was launched in 2021.

Lord Caine: The Government passed the Victims Payments Regulations in January 2020 as required by Parliament in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 10 and 11 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019(1). The Troubles Permanent Disablement Scheme opened in August 2021. It is now making payments and providing much-needed acknowledgement and support to those victims and their families who have suffered, and continue to suffer, as a result of being injured in the Troubles. This scheme is being delivered by the Northern Ireland Executive and the Victims Payments Board is responsible for all operational matters, including recording and publishing data about applications to the scheme. However, we have contacted the Victims Payments Board and they have assured us that they will arrange for a response to be issued to you that answers this query.

Department for International Trade

UK Trade with EU

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Brexit on exports from the UK to the European Union.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: UK trade has been affected by several shocks in recent years, including the Covid Pandemic, exiting the EU and war in Ukraine. In the period since leaving the EU, the value of UK exports to the EU is back to pre-Covid levels. Latest figures published by the Office for National Statistics show that the UK total exports of goods and services to the EU were worth £330.2bn in the 12 months to September 2022. This represents an overall increase of 10% in current prices compared to pre-Covid levels in 2018, with services exports growing by 12% in current prices in this period.

Trade Promotion

Viscount Waverley: To ask His Majesty's Government what (1) opportunities have been introduced to the UK, and (2) transactions have been completed, by each of the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoys in respect of (a) each sector, and (b) each country, in the last two years.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: Trade Envoys are appointed by the Prime Minister to support the Government’s trade and investment objectives. Trade Envoys add value in their respective markets, through the soft power influence they bring in developing relationships with key influencers and feedback has been very positive. Trade Envoys are one part of the Department’s support for British businesses seeking to export and win contracts overseas and we do not separate out the impact of Trade Envoys from our broader departmental work.

Overseas Trade: Colombia and Dominican Republic

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: To ask His Majesty's Government, following the visits to the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Columbia by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Americas and Caribbean), what plans they have to assist UK businesses in trading with companies in those countries.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The Department for International Trade, now known as the Department for Business and Trade, works to support UK businesses in their trading endeavors in the Dominican Republic and Colombia. This includes promotional activity in the UK, such as the upcoming LATAC Roadshow where our experts will showcase opportunities in these markets for UK businesses. Additionally, my noble Friend Baroness Hooper and my Hon. Friend for Fylde are active Trade Envoys for these countries, engaging with businesses in the UK and abroad. Following recent Ministerial visits, the Government has hosted a senior Colombian rail delegation to promote UK expertise in this sector and is pursuing an ambitious multi-billion pound pipeline of infrastructure projects in the Dominican Republic.

Trade Promotion

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: To ask His Majesty's Government what are the roles and lines of accountability for UK trade envoys and trade commissioners, including their accountability to Parliament.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: Trade Envoys are Parliamentarians appointed by the Prime Minister to support the Government’s trade and investment agenda in one or more specific markets. They report to my Rt Hon. Friend the Secretary of State and are ultimately accountable to the Prime Minister. HM Trade Commissioners are senior Civil Servants recruited under fair and open competition and appointed to head the overseas operations for this department. They are accountable to the Permanent Secretary and ultimately to the Secretary of State.

Trade Promotion

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: To ask His Majesty's Government what administrative, logistical, and financial support is provided to UK trade envoys when they travel overseas in that capacity.

Lord Johnson of Lainston: The Department for International Trade, now known as the Department for Business and Trade, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the programme and each Trade Envoy has a Civil Servant relationship manager. Relationship managers act as the Trade Envoy’s point of contact, coordinating their activity and provide administrative support when they undertake overseas visits, by arranging flights, visas, a programme of activity and briefing. The Trade Envoy role is unpaid, but this department meets the costs of any travel expenditure such as transport and accommodation to allow them to carry out their role.